Spinning-holder for tops.



PATENTED APR l4, 190m K. E. JOHA-NSSON. SPINNING HOLDER FOR TOPS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 9, 1907.

YHE NORRIS PETERS co., WASHINGTON. u c,

KARL E. JOHANSSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPINNING-HOLDER FOR TOPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 14, 1908.

Application filed September 9, 1907. Serial No. 391,939.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KARL E. JOHANSSON, a subject of the King of Sweden,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in a Spinning-Holder forTops, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in a spinning holder for tops,and consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novelarrangement, and operation of the various parts thereof, as will behereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

The objects of the invention are to provide a spinning holder for thetops to be used for maintaining the ends of the top in perfect alinementwith one another while the spinning cord is being withdrawn from thatportion of the top on which it has been wound.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a spinning holder, ofsuch construction that its bearings for the stems of the top may beautomatically released therefrom, or they may be held in engagementtherewith, and released by pressure of the hand of the operator.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spinning holder fortops, which will enable the top to be spun for a great length of time byan inexperienced person.

Other ob'ects and advantages of the inventioii will be disclosed in thesubjoined description and explanation.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionpertains, to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it,referring to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a view inside elevation of a top and spinning holder therefor, embodying theinvention, and showing by dotted lines about the positions the membersor parts of the holder will assume when the top is released. Fig. 2 is acrosssectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1 looking in the directionindicated by the arrows. Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of amodified form of the top andFig. 4 is a greatly enlarged perspectiveview of one of the prongs of the holder.

Like numerals of reference, refer to corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views of the drawing.

The spinning holder, which is designated in whole by the referencenumeral 7, is preferably made of wire, but may be made of suitablespring metal, flat or otherwise in cross-section, and comprises a handleportion consisting of two parallel parts 8, having at one of their endsa spring, which may be in the form of a coil 9 integral with the parts8, as shown. The parts 8 are divergently extended from one another at asuitable distance from the spring or coil 9 as at 10 in Fig. 1 of thedrawing, and are then extended in parallelism with one another, as isclearly shown in said figure. of the members or parts 8 is flattened orbroadened as at 11, and is bent back to approximate a portion of themember, thus providing bearing members 12, each of wh ch is providedwith an opening 13 for the spmdles 14 and 15 of the top 16, the body ofwhich may be of any suitable shape, but preferably of the shape or formshown in Fig. 1 of the drawing, in which it will be observed that thespindle 14 is secured. in the center of one end of the body of the top,and that said body is provided with a flattened apex 17 around the saidspindle. The other end of the top 16 is provided with a reducedextension 18, for the reception of the sp1n ning cord, which is woundaround said extension when it is desired to spin the top.

The spindle 15 is secured in the center of the free end of the extension18, and is of sufficient length to rest against the inner surface of theflattened portion 11 of one of the members 8, so that the bearing member12 thereon will be free from the end of the extension 18, as is obviousby reference to the drawing. Secured at one of its ends to one of themembers 8, near its outwardly bent ortion, is a guide and locking member19 for the other member 8 of the holder.

The member 19 may be secured at one of its ends to one of the handlemembers 8 by being coiled around the same as at 20, and solderedthereto, or it may be otherwise attached to said member, and extendstransversely with respect to the parts 8, and is rovided at its free endwith a loop 21 one o the members of which loop is furnished with alateral offset 22 to provide means for locking the member 8, whichextends through the loop, in its contracted position, or in suchposition that the bearing members 12 will engage the spindles 14 and 15of the top. The

offset 22 is formed at a proper place on one of the members of the loop21, so that when the members 8 are in their contracted ositions, asshown by full lines in Fig. 1, the lbwer sur- The free end of each faceof the member 8 which passes through the loop will rest on the lowersurface of the inner portion of the offset 22, thus restricting theinward movement of said member 8. By this arrangement, it is apparentthat the bearing members 12 will be held out of contact with theflattened apex 17 and the end of the extension 18, thus reducing thefriction incident to the revolution of the top to a minimum degree.

In Fig. 3 of the drawing, I have shown a modified form of the top, whichconsists in providing the enlarged end thereof with an extension 18instead of locating it in the tapered end as in the construction shownin Fig. 1 of the drawing. In this modified form of the top 16", thetapered portion thereof is provided with a spindle 1 1, and the free endof the extension 18 is provided with a spindle 15, as in the otherconstruction, and said spindles are adapted to engage the openings 13 inthe bearlng members, as in the other construction.

From the foregoing and by reference to the drawing it will be seen andreadily understood that by employing a spinning holder embodying myinvention, a very simple and efficient spinning device and holder isfurnished, and that by reason of the peculiar construction of the top,it may be made to spin for a great length of time on either end, for itis evident that the holder may be inverted from the position shown inFig. 1, or that the position of the top may be reversed.

The operation is simple and as follows The spindles 14 and 15 of the topare placed in the openings 13 of the bearing members 12, when saidmembers may be held in the position shown by continuous lines in Fig. 1of the drawing, simply by the pressure of the hand on the parts 8 of theholder, or one of the parts or members 8 may be caused, by a lateralmovement thereof. to engage the offset 22 in the loop 21, thus firmlyholding the bearing members in engagement with the spindles of the topuntil the spinning cord, which shall have been tightly wound around thereduced extension 18 or 18 of the top, is quickly withdrawn therefrom,which will impart to the top rapid rotary motion, when by releasing thegrasp of the hand from the parts 8, or disengaging the member 8 from theoffset 22, it is evident that the bearing members 12, by reason of theresiliency of the holder, will be separated, thus releasing the top andermitting it to fall on the floor or other sur 'ace upon which it isdesired to spin the same.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters-Patent, is 4 1. A spinning holder for topsconsisting of a spring-pressed forked holder having at the free end ofeach of its prongs a bearing member for engagement with the spindles ofthe top, and a guide member transversely located with respect to theprongs of the holder and secured at one of its ends to one of saidprongs and having at its other end aloo through which the other prong isextende said loop having in one of its members an offset or recess toengage the prong and to hold it in its depressed position.

2. A spinning holder for tops, consisting of a spring-pressed forkedholder having at the free end of each of its prongs a bearing member forengagement with the spindles of the top, and a guide member transverselylocated with respect to the prongs of the holder and secured at one ofits ends to one of said prongs and having at its other end a 100 throughwhich the other prong is extendec.

KARL E. JOHANSSON.

Witnesses:

CHAS. C. TILLMAN, M. A. NYMAN.

